Best Local Luthier

Girlbrand Guitars

www.girlbrand.com

STAFF PICK: For years Chris Larsen has been known as a painter in the local art scene but secretly he builds electric guitars in his barrio garage and sells them in L.A., Chicago and San Francisco under the name Girlbrand. He puts his artistic talents to work creating the strangest and most beautiful guitars on the planet, maybe in the universe. He uses unusual materials like recycled chrome dinettes and mysterious antique machine parts, he custom designs lovely hilarious mother-of-pearl fret inlays, slips wordplay into unexpected places, and invents metal finishes that look as if they've been shipwrecked, buried in Egyptian tombs, or kissed by suns from other galaxies. Not only do they look dazzling but they sound so good they've been snapped up and played on floodlit stages by the likes of Henry Kaiser, Elvis Costello, Julian Coryell, Meredith Brooks, Rick Nielsen, Gunner Nelson and Allison Cornell. Guitars Etc. on Speedway usually has a couple on hand, or hit his website and see the whole range.